The 2015-2016 NBA season began this week and with the launch of a new season, daily fantasy sports players have another sport to take their attention besides football.

Of course, the main difference with daily fantasy basketball is that you can literally play the game daily due to the sport’s 82 game season, versus 16 weeks of games mostly played on Sunday.

When you play daily fantasy basketball you will want to make sure you familiarize yourself with the rules and roster sizes at the DFS sites you want to play. There are actually a notable fundamental differences you will need to account for before setting your lineups. At FanDuel and DraftKings, for instance, everything from the size of the roster to how points are scored are different.

So lets take a look at how the teams are structured, how points are scored and anything else you need to be aware of in setting your lineups.

The first difference you will notice is that the roster size is different. At DraftKings, you need to draft eight players and stay under a $50,000 salary cap. This contrasts rosters at FanDuel, which features nine positions and a $60,000 salary cap.

In addition to the size of the roster, the rosters are actually made up quite differently. Even though FanDuel has nine positions you must fill, the roster is arguably more diverse at DraftKings. This leads to more strategic decisions that have to be made, such as whether it will be put a player into a specific position (shooting guard) or place them in a more general position (guard).

DraftKings also mixes up things by adding a utility position, similar to the site’s FLEX position. The main difference here is that you can put any player in the utility position. This can make for some interesting additional strategies regarding what positions and players might be best for this position.

FanDuel Vs DraftKings NBA Scoring Differences

NBA Scoring Similarities

As you might expect, FanDuel and DraftKings have many of the same stats and award the same amount of points for those stats. The following stat categories award the same number of points regardless of what site you play on.

Point: 1 Point (1 for a Free Throw, 2 for a 2 Point Field Goal and 3 for a 3 Point Field Goal. DraftKings has an extra bonus for 3 pointers, which you can see below)
Assist: 1.5 Points
Steal: 2 Points
Block: 2 Points

Many of the basic stat categories award the same number of points, with the exception of three pointers, rebounds and turnovers. In addition to receiving the 3 points from making the three-pointer — which is the same regardless of what site you are playing — players on DraftKings will receive an additional 0.5 point bonus for making the shot. This means three points are worth 3.5 points on DraftKings.

Rebounds are awarded only slightly differently on each site, whereas you are dinged twice as much for turnovers at FanDuel. Of course, everyone is playing under the same rules at either site, so it’s just a matter of how you are filling out your lineup at these games according to the rules.

In addition to these differences, DraftKings also awards achievement Double-Double and Triple-Double points bonuses, up to 1 per player. A Double-Double is when a player has at least 10 in two major offensive stat categories, whereas a Triple-Double is earned when a player achieves at least 10 in three major offensive stat categories.

While many are enamored with the million dollar tournaments in the daily fantasy industry, cash games are the lifeblood for many players. Learn the differences between the two major formats: head-to-heads and 50/50s.